Official MLBlog of the Kansas City Royals front office.

Royals Caravan heads west

Right-handed pitchers Brian Bannister and Kyle Davies, broadcaster Steve Stewart, and Royals Hall of Famers Frank White and John Mayberry are touring western Kansas this week. Senior Director of Community Relations Ben Aken and Senior Director of Publicity Lora Grosshans (a Minneapolis, Kan. native) are traveling with the group. They sent us these photos.

Day one featured stops in Emporia, Topeka, and Lawrence. A family in Emporia wanted to have their baby signed. Here, Big John Mayberry places his autograph on the little one.

The day ended with a special visit to the KU-Texas A&M game at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. Brian Bannister caught up with a familiar face, Bob Davis, the voice of the Jayhawks and Royals baseball on the Royals Radio Network. Brian attended USC and loves his cardinal and gold, but he proudly sported KU blue as the Jayhawks cruised to a 20-point victory.

On Tuesday, the caravan rolled into Fort Riley, home of the U.S. Army’s First Infantry Division, also known as the Big Red One. Our crew demonstrated a tough guy pose as they stepped off the bus.

Inside the Post Exchange, it was all smiles as the Fort Riley FRG (Family Readiness Group) was presented a $25,000 check from Royals Charities. The donation to the Fort Riley Family Readiness Group will support the families of the 4,000 men and women from Fort Riley that were deployed to Iraq in October. Family Readiness Groups are organized to serve as an important source of inspiration, training and support for a unit’s family members during deployment.

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